IYCF Counsellor – Female ( Afghan Nationals Only )

Requisition ID: req45917

Job Title: IYCF Counsellor – Female ( Afghan Nationals Only )

Sector: Health

Employment Category: Regular

Employment Type: Full-Time

Open to Expatriates: No

Location: Helmand, Afghanistan

Work Arrangement: In-person

Job Description

• Maintain open and professional relations with team members, promoting a strong team spirit and provide guidance to enable staff to successfully perform in their positions. 
• Provide IYCF support and mentorship to other health clinical staff, providing on-the-job training where needed.
• Ensure non-disclosure of any information whatsoever about practices and IRC activities to any other person or organization without permission, except in the normal performance of the service.
• Consistently and proactively monitor/assess the safety and security of the team; promptly reporting concerns or incidents to IRC management and liaising with community leaders and other external parties as required to maintain/enhance the security environment for IRC programs.
• Provide IYCF counselling to mothers and caregivers.
• Provide health education to all clients regarding breastfeeding and young child feeding.
• Support nutrition nurse on screen all children and pregnant and lactating women for acute malnutrition using MUAC and refer those who meet the referral criteria for health care services.
• Growth monitoring of all children under 2 years old.
•  Take height and weight measurements.
• Lead individual and group nutrition counselling sessions tailored to the needs of clients and caregivers.
•  Ensure adherence to infection prevention and control measures.
• Ensure accurate recording of nutrition information in the clinic registers and timely completion of summary reports.
• Identify mothers to become peer educators in their villages and support them to undertake sensitization and work closely with CHWs.
• Train and work with CHWs to ensure consistent messaging regarding best practices for IYCF and CMAM Work with CHWs to Provide ongoing follow-up, basic motivational interviewing, and goal setting with patients/families.

Qualifications

• Secondary school Diploma or equivalent, Nursing Diploma or qualification an advantage but not required
• 2 years of relevant work experience
• Skills to provide sensitive and appropriate counselling, strong communication skills.
• Must be a team player with excellent interpersonal skills and ability to work under pressure in a stressful environment, displaying patience, compassion, and diplomacy.
• Ability to be innovative, flexible, adaptive, and willingness to work out of hours, sometimes throughout the night.
• Ability to live in challenging conditions and ability to work under difficult, high-pressure situations.
• Ability to lead, train, supervise and facilitate other nursing staff and community health workers in their respective tasks.
• Ability and flexibility to understand the cultural and political environment and to work well with the local health representatives.
• Technical Competency
• Communication and reporting skills
• Fluency in Pashto, Dari and English
• Computer skills (including MS Word, Excel, Access, and internet) an advantage.
• Ability to work closely, professionally, and constructively with all others regardless of nationality, ethnicity, gender, religion, race, tribe, or cultural background.

Compliance with Policies

• Compliance with the IRC WAY (our standards for professional conduct) is a responsibility shared by all involved in delivering on the IRCs mission. We must abide by the IRC Way and Safeguarding Policies all the time. 
• The IRC has zero tolerance approach to the IRC Code of Conduct including safeguarding violations being committed by its staff, consultants, contractors, volunteers, interns, suppliers, vendors, sub-grantees/partners, implementing partners or any other associate.